I wander through this world of suffering, my mind fixed on objects of
senses which bring only pain and my chest pierced by the javelin of
forgetfulness of You(Krishna). My body and mind are withered and
shattered and from moment to moment I become unconscious. Immersed in
pain I am like a living corpse-Narottama Das Thakur
--
Yours
Dinesh
It's ruinous2b familiar with d King,Fire,Religous preceptor,Woman. 2b
altogether indifferent2them is2b deprived of d opportunity2benefit
ourselves.Hence our association with them must b from a safer
distance-Canakya Pandit
--
Yours
Dinesh
V shud always deal cautiously with fire,water,women,foolish
people,serpents&members of royal family;for they may when d occasion
presents itself,at once bring about our death-Canakya Pandit.
--
Yours
Dinesh
There are 2ways 2get rid of thorns&wicked people;using footwear at
first place&in d 2nd,shaming them so that they cant raise their faces
again,thus keeping them at a distance.
--
Yours
Dinesh
| Posted: 07 Jul 2011 02:43 PM PDT 
Through this prasadam, we will again become motivated to engage in the service of the Lord. It will give us new strength to maintain devotional service of the Lord!   |
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ISKCON DC <ISKCON.DC@pamho.net>
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2011 20:28 +0530
Subject: Obstacles in sharing Krishna consciousness due to past conditioning
To:
Digest 352: July 6th, 2011. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja
You are invited to send your questions to His Holiness Romapada Swami at
iskcondcr@gmail.com with the word "Question" included in the subject line or
submit your question at http://www.romapadaswami.com/?q=feedback/Question.
Obstacles in sharing Krishna consciousness due to past conditioning
*******************************************************************
728) In one of your lecture/discussion, where you are speaking about
preaching or sharing Krishna consciousness with other people, you say
something like, ''... if the door isn't open, don't try to go in.'
After I took to Krishna consciousness, I realized that to a certain degree I
am conditioned to see others as 'having the door closed.' This is because I
grew up always experiencing that whenever I would try to express a belief in
God, it would be denied or ridiculed by my mother. My mother became an
atheist before I was born (I believe in part due to unpleasant experiences
attending Catholic school). After experiencing Krishna consciousness and
the association of devotees, I feel much more comfortable overtly expressing
my belief in God or Krishna. However I sometimes see that my conditioning is
still there and feel that it is likely to stand in the way of my ability to
help others come to Krishna consciousness. I wonder if there is anything
specific which I can focus on to try to overcome this?
Answer: There are two aspects to this question: (1) Objectively, it is
important to learn to properly discriminate *how* to open our hearts
intelligenly to share Krishna consciousness with different types of people,
and (2) Subjectively, how to overcome your own past conditioning that
sometimes makes you hesitate to express your faith with confidence, even to
those who may be open to it, due to fear of being ridiculed or rejected.
As far as proper discrimination goes, one of the injunctions for chanting
the Holy Name offenselessly is the following prohibition: *To instruct a
faithless person about the glories of the holy name. (Anyone can take part
in chanting the holy name of the Lord, but in the beginning one should not
be instructed about the transcendental potency of the Lord. Those who are
too sinful cannot appreciate the transcendental glories of the Lord, and
therefore it is better not to instruct them in this matter.)* (NOD, Ch 8)
Not only it could make them more obstinate or offensive, but it could also
potentially damage/weaken our own faith. Rupa Goswami also recommends that
we should open our hearts with like-minded devotees - that is most conducive
to bhakti. (NOI 4) Confidential exchanges with atheistic or strongly
materialistic persons can potentially damage our bhakti. Confidential
exchange could mean discussing one's own personal life, decisions, desires
and goals; but on a deeper level, knowledge of spirit and of God are the
most confidential subjects. Of course, by its very definition, preaching
involves 'knocking on other's doors', glorifying the Lord, and soliciting or
inviting them to do the same. One is advised to not receive advice from
atheistic and materialistic persons in either of these two categories of
confidential matters. Proper discrimination is, therefore, the key.
Actually, sharing of Krishna consciousness can be most effectively done,
even when hearts are not yet fully opened, on the foundation of developing a
loving relationship.
A devotee is recommended to cultivate loving service feelings for the
Supreme Lord and the Spiritual Master; to cultivate friendly relationship
with other like-minded devotees; to cultivate compassion towards innocent
and unfortunate persons; and to avoid and neglect those who are critical and
envious. (Please study Nectar of Instruction Text 4-5) This is the essence
of discrimination.
And when a loving spiritual relationship is built - founded on mutual
respect, trust and genuine mood of service -- in the background of that
relationship, discussions of Krishna and His messages will be most potent.
Speaking about Krishna is not the only way to reach out and share Krishna
consciousness; more important and more effective is your own acting with
Vaishnava qualities -- particularly in those cases where you sense a 'closed
door.'
With this guideline in mind, begin by thoughtfully and selectively sharing
your realizations with some open-minded persons who are innocent and who
exhibit some appreciation and attraction for these messages. And invest time
in building deep, solid loving spiritual relationships. By doing so in a
mood of service, to please Krishna, your strength, confidence and
convictions will grow deeper. From that position of strength you will feel
increasingly comfortable and expert how to share with others who may be a
bit less open.
As a devotee becomes more mature in his/her devotion, he/she becomes
increasingly empowered to help and transform the hearts of even those with
strong misconceptions or a closed heart. Srila Prabhupada could transform
the most difficult cases of hardened atheists, impersonalists and
materialists. Vidura was able to force open the heart of even blind and
attached Dhritarashtra, because of the loving relationship he had built.
Like a medical student in training, consider yourself as an apprentice --
try to assist in the preaching of such advanced, empowered preachers, and
carefully follow their instructions. Deeply meditate upon their qualities
and the way they interact with different persons -- for example, the
intensity of humility and compassion with which Prabhupada prayed in the
song he wrote on the Jaladuta, or how he conquered the heart of Dr. Mishra
who was philosophically at complete odds with him, and so on. As you become
absorbed in such meditations, your heart will become increasingly filled
with those deeper knowledge, conviction, compassion, humility, feelings of
dependence on Krishna -- in the presence of these sun-like qualities, the
crippling effects of your own past experiences will fade away.
Another thing you can do to directly address such past experiences is to
begin seeing them as wonderful learning experiences, rather than as a
debilitating one. The more a devotee learns to see Krishna's hand in
everything, the more he/she begins to consider what he thought a seeming
misfortune is actually a special gift from Krishna. By this change of
attitude, you will find so much to learn from those memories and
experiences. Having gone through that experience with your mother, for
example, you now have a very special advantage to be more understanding and
compassionate towards those with similar difficulties. You can now be more
perceptive of what it is that is fundamentally making such persons 'close
their doors' - perhaps their own bad experiences, or some misconception or
fear about religion or religious persons etc. You are not likely to
dogmatically impose your convictions upon someone who is not yet experienced
or received the mercy you have been fortunate to receive. And you need not
make the same mistake of expecting support or validation for your beliefs
from those persons. Rather, now you can be more considerate, and your
compassion and understanding and gentle dealings may be the very means that
can touch their hearts and encourage them to open the door once again!
And, you can feel deeper appreciation and gratitude for having now received
these wonderful teachings which have the touch-stone like potency of
transforming even those unfavorable situations into favorable! Whenever you
experience similar situations or a relapse of your old inhibitions, take
shelter of these teachings and how you can apply them to add transcendental
wisdom to what you have learned by past experience.
**************************
Digests 1-351 are available with subject classification at
http://www.romapadaswami.com/?q=inquiries
Digest 1-242 are included as a PDF file at:
http://www.romapadaswami.com/Inquiries/IITA_full.pdf
Lectures: http://www.romapadaswami.com/?q=audio
Brief biography of His Holiness Romapada Swami:
http://www.romapadaswami.com/?q=HHRPS_bio
**************************
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--
Yours
Dinesh
Government failed to see the Supreme Authority&His Supervision.
After having discussed with a number of urban migrants, I understand
the root cause of all problems.
I spoke with a migrant who comes to work from village to the city to
earn money. He said he has 10 acres of land in the village but due to
scarcity of water,the produce is affected and hence it's getting
difficult for them to repay the debts to the capitalists.
1000s or even lacs of farmers committed suicide in the past due to
their inability to pay off the debts when the rain water fails.
If the govt really wants to help people, it has to solve this water
problem by suitable yagya to satisfy Lord Vishnu. This is the best and
simplest solution which is to understand that nature is working under
the Supervision of Lord Sri Krishna.
When the water problem is solved, people get enough food and all the
living beings get satisfied and thereby prosperity will rain. This is
a science and not meant only for Hindus or muslims or christians. It's
for all living beings.
Villages are to be supported by the government. I still remember that
I studied in my school days that "Agriculture is the back-bone of
India"
Especially the soil in South India is so fertile that any crop will
grow here easily.
If the blind leaders can open their eyes and see the reality and act,
people can also see the reality&everyone will become happy(Sarva
Sukino bhavantu)
--
Yours
Dinesh
| Bhagavad-gita As It Is | Part [BG.10.07] |
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(Purport to 10.4-5 continued)
Ahimsa, nonviolence, means that one should not do anything which will put others into misery or confusion. Material activities that are promised by so many politicians, sociologists, philanthropists, etc., do not produce very good results because the politicians and philanthropists have no transcendental vision; they do not know what is actually beneficial for human society.
Ahimsa means that people should be trained in such a way that the full utilization of the human body can be achieved. The human body is meant for spiritual realization, so any movement or any commissions which do not further that end commit violence on the human body. That which furthers the future spiritual happiness of the people in general is called nonviolence. Samata, equanimity, refers to freedom from attachment and aversion. To be very much attached or to be very much detached is not the best. This material world should be accepted without attachment or aversion. That which is favorable for prosecuting Krishna consciousness should be accepted; that which is unfavorable should be rejected. That is called samata, equanimity. A person in Krishna consciousness has nothing to reject and nothing to accept save in terms of its usefulness in the prosecution of Krishna consciousness.
Tushti, satisfaction, means that one should not be eager to gather more and more material goods by unnecessary activity. One should be satisfied with whatever is obtained by the grace of the Supreme Lord; that is called satisfaction. Tapas means austerity or penance. There are many rules and regulations in the Vedas which apply here, like rising early in the morning and taking a bath. Sometimes it is very troublesome to rise early in the morning, but whatever voluntary trouble one may suffer in this way is called penance. Similarly, there are prescriptions for fasting on certain days of the month. One may not be inclined to practice such fasting, but because of his determination to make advancement in the science of Krishna consciousness, he should accept such bodily troubles when they are recommended. However, one should not fast unnecessarily or against Vedic injunctions. One should not fast for some political purpose; that is described in Bhagavad-gita as fasting in ignorance, and anything done in ignorance or passion does not lead to spiritual advancement. Everything done in the mode of goodness does advance one, however, and fasting done in terms of the Vedic injunctions enriches one in spiritual knowledge. |
Translation and commentary by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
| Posted: 06 Jul 2011 12:30 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Berlin 2011) In the earlier days of Iskcon austerity was a big thing, it was considered spiritual, the more austere the more spiritual: the colder the water the better, the less you could eat the more Krishna consciousness you were! 'How many chick peas do you eat?' The days of austerity where everything was taboo; 'A book that is not Krishna conscious' 'It should be burned!' 'If we found it in the ashrama it would be confiscated and..burned, burned it was' 'Such books are not to be read, such books are maya, and such books are contaminating us, we do not even wish to see them or smell them, …..burn them, destroy them, annihilate them, burn them deep in the ground and let the worms devour them that they will never return in our life! So that we will be safe from maya and it will not in any way disturb us and we will just have our purity in our devotional life……………………………………………oh, there's just one thing that we forgot.' 'Oh what's that?' 'We forgot that we were human, we forgot that we have taste, we forgot that we have likes and dislikes, we forgot that we desire, to enjoy and feel good.' 'Maya Maya, are you serving Krishna? Are you serving Krishna?' 'But I want to take a walk in the forest' 'Sense gratification, Sense gratification' 'But the green is good for my nerves' 'You're not your nerves'
'I'm tired….' 'The soul, the spirt soul is full of unlimted energy, the soul is never tired!'
So those days were moving along and yes…it couldn't last.  |
An unbridled horse is dangerous for the horse rider&passenger taking a
ride,similarly the senses when not kept in control of the mind also
endangers the travelling passenger of the body-the soul from reaching
the destination,which is back2Home back2Godhead.
--
Yours
Dinesh
| Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:41 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2005) 'What am I getting?' Instead of: 'What am I giving?' This is the point. In Krishna Consciousness the essence is to give, and if we preoccupy ourselves from morning till night about giving instead about receiving: 'Am I getting the right things?' Am I getting the good facility?' 'Am I getting….getting…..getting?' Instead of worrying about getting, if we are getting in the spirit of giving then we will conquer our mind, our senses and we will be totally inspired in the service of the Lord! This is our aim; this is our objective; this is our meditation. Even while we may sometimes struggle with our tendencies to receive. Even while we are hankering to receive, we must preach to ourselves. The reason why we are always again and again hearing and studying Krishna conscious philosophy is not that we are just becoming expert preachers for others, but first of all we are becoming expert preachers for ourselves……to preach to ourselves – that is an essential element! One must at times when the mind takes over,than we have to speak to ourselves: "Ok, now you are on the mental platform. Just see you will allow yourself to totally go into this mind. Now is the time to chant. Now it's the time to get very busy in devotional service. This is your only saving grace". And then we should act upon it. So this is the process that we do not allow the mind to control. Rather we control the mind by just preaching to ourselves and acting on the platform of intelligence which tells us to engage in devotional service and in taking shelter of the holy name. This is the way… it works!  |
| Posted: 05 Jul 2011 12:59 PM PDT
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Berlin 2010) It's not just in the external hocus pocus, but it is really in how much one makes a sacrifice within that makes it meaningful, it's not so much in a saffron,…or in different mixes: 'Are you going for Loy Bazaar Pink or are you going for Chowpatty yellow or are you going for rock dye, or are you going for the old mix; good old orange and yellow- number fifity five and number six?' So in this way there all expressions of one's personality; 'Are we going for the border, South Indian Style?' 'Are we going for the thick tilaka?' 'Are we going for the shika the size of the back of our head, or are we leaving an eternal beard of three days to look casual?' 'Are we going for beads around our neck with leaves with Holy Name all over and putting Kavacas on the left and on the right?' 'Does your brahmana thread have twelve strings or does it have 6 or does it have three… what is it?' So all these things they can be meaningful only… if they became part of a sacrifice.
 |
> Temple Treasures Found!
>
>
> A huge treasure worth 11 billion Dollars has been discovered in the underground vaults of an ancient Temple in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala South India.
>
> Here are some of the treasures that were found in vaults below the Temple:
> Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearls
> Replicas of coconut shells made of pure gold
> Hundreds of thousands of gold and silver coins, some dating to the 16th century
> Gold chains as long as 18 feet
> Solid-gold human figurines and Deities
> Crowns and pendants
> Gold and silver bars
> The wealth was amassed in at least six vaults, some of which had not been opened in 150 years, according to media reports. India's Supreme Court ordered an inventory of the vaults after hearing a private complaint seeking "more transparency and trustworthiness in the temple administration,"
> The Kerala Govt. Officials said the treasure will remain the property of the Temple. Many of the Deities and treasures of the Deities from the Temples had to be hidden from foreign invaders who stole the jewels of the Temples throughout history. Those who did that have suffered losing their past power.
> Even the huge Hope Jewel was taken and should be returned for the good of both countries and all involved.
>
> When we hear about the ancient Vedic Culture being so opulent many people doubt it. Stories of people eating from plates of solid gold just 5,000 years ago for example. And the histories are so amazing that many of the modern day people call the Vedic Culture mythology. They have no faith in Krsna even though He is the father of Christ who they themselves say is God. We call Him Krsna. Christ comes from Krsna, both literally and in reality.
>
> In India there are magnificent Temples, millions of them. Some hundreds and even thousands of years old. Throughout time Temples were built in devotional service from the people. Some Temples have jewels inlaid in the ceilings etc. Many are made out of solid marble. Even though there is a wealth of opulence it is just a spark of Krsna's splendor. In the spiritual world Krsna's palaces are made of cintamani stones and flawless gems all so effulgent there is no need of sunlight or moonlight or electricity.
>
> I have been to India 10 times for almost four years and have traveled from top to bottom and all around and have barely scratched the surface! There is such a rich history and spiritual significance because of the Vedic Culture and the Lord appearing there in so many ways throughout time, the topmost place being Sri Vrindavan Dham. The real wealth isn't jewels, it's the jewels of the pure pastimes of our sweet Lord and the pure devotees. The Lord has jewels all over His body but He makes them look better, not visa-versa!
>
> Swami Srila Prabhupada brought the 'Matchless Gifts' of Krsna Consciousness out of India to the world. You can get a piece of your inheritance by getting some of his books and reading them. They will guide you to the priceless treasures obtainable by knowledge about them and pure loving devotional service. By hearing and chanting the rubbish nonsense in our brains and hearts gets cleaned away and the pure in heart shall see God, Krsna, or whatever Name you prefer. There is only one God, with unlimited Holy Names. Inherit your spiritual kingdom now!
>
>
> Hoping this meets you well and Happy in Krsna Consciousness
> Your eternal friend and servant
> Gauridasa Pandita Dasa
> \o/ HariboL \o/
> Chant and be Happy!
> BHAKTI SHAKTI
>
> SupersouL CD now available at:
> http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gauridasapanditadasa
>
> Please check out my songs!
>
> Nama Sankirtan Song
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnxU3QwmeDE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
>
> 'All Attractive Lord'
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fIQE4Rc5Z8
>
> 'Its Krsna'
> :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZPdL8CHodI
>
> 'Going Home'
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_39zi_x1EOE
>
> 'THE SWAMI SONG'
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9QBmgVc-mY
>
>
>
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